I was sitting at work doing my thing focused on the job at hand when the Jefferson Airplane tune “Go Ask Alice” popped into my head.  I’ve probably heard it recently and forgotten but it seemed very out of place.  It was just there.   It was a bit startling but now I’m humming it and definitely can’t get it out of my head.

I looked up the words on the internet.

One pill makes you larger
And one pill makes you small
And the ones that mother gives you
Don’t do anything at all

Go ask Alice
When she’s ten feet tall

And if you go chasing rabbits
And you know you’re going to fall
Tell them a hookah smoking caterpillar
Has given you the call

Call Alice
When she was just small

When the men on the chessboard
Get up and tell you where to go
And you’ve just had some kind of mushroom
And your mind is moving low

Go ask Alice
I think she’ll know

When logic and proportion
Have fallen sloppy dead
And the White Knight is talking backwards
And the Red Queen’s “off with her head!”

Remember what the dormouse said:
“Feed your head, feed your head, feed your head”

I read through the comments which seemed to be written by young males who were probably not conceived until 20 years after the song was on “underground” radio.  It was funny to me to read the anti-drug debate that erupted in this comments section.  They liked the song, “It rocks”, but felt compelled to say “don’t do drugs” or else felt compelled to dis each other for lack of experience in that area.  My favorite, “Lol, I said no to drugs, but they didn’t listen.”

But I digress.  In the spirit of anything can find connection to anything else, I will make some non-drug related connections of my own.

To me the most relevant connection is in the lines

When logic and proportion
Have fallen sloppy dead
And the White Knight is talking backwards
And the Red Queen’s “off with her head!”

When I began thinking about writing a blog entry after several months lapse, the quote that I was working with was Dickens’ best of times/worst of times, the opening paragraph of A Tale of Two Cities.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

The first line is very familiar and its almost cliché that any time can be considered both best and worst and certainly many have made the claim about our current time.  It all depends on one’s circumstance, or does it?  Does it depend more on how one reacts to circumstances, the state of being, the focus one chooses.  It is my belief that the latter is the case.

In the worst of times it is not easy to maintain a mental attitude of hopefulness, peace, loving-kindness toward others; in the best of times we often forget the discipline that makes it possible to develop these positive attitudes.     In reality we can only start where we are.

It seems that dark clouds continue to gather.  No one seems optimistic about the economy, the euphoria that followed Obama’s election has left us, the political bickering that  has made most lose faith in our government is getting worse, and on the individual level more people are living in dire straits than since my mother’s time during the depression.  I have been reading news articles about how people are losing hope.

I am more and more convinced that what we are seeing is the transition time before a radically new way of being comes about.   Of course I am highly influenced by a lot of “New age” sources.  Since 2012 is so widely known now it is easier to speak of this transition time.

I have also been studying astrology for some time and from an astrological perspective the future also looks a little bleak.  This has been written about by many others so I will not go into the technical complexities here.  Suffice it to say that 2010 is a pivotal year where slow-moving planets cross into new astrological signs and make precise alignments with each other that may only happen in a generation.  Astrologer Theodore White outlines these transits and may be summarized:  One explanation of the current and coming transits “The Astrological Year of 2009 will undoubtedly be the first full year of the beginning of the transition from the legacy world of the 20th century, into the new era of the 21st century.”   His analysis of the transits of 2010 can b found here.

Of course one does not have to be an astrologer to read the signs, they are popping up everywhere .  Whether we believe that an asteroid or nuclear war will take us out, that the sun or the caldera in Yellowstone will explode, that Jesus or the madhi will return or that we will degenerate in  civil war, famine and survival of those that build underground bunkers, the negative scenarios abound.  And the positive scenarios are just as plentiful but possibly not as well known.

One pill makes you larger
And one pill makes you small

We may be consciously choosing our pill with adherence to a belief or a fear.  If not we unconsciously choose it with the things that we put out attention on.

And who is Alice?  Alice could be anyone.  I submit that we each have the ability to choose those that we will ask for help or to motivate us.  We can gain insight from those that have survived hard times or found strength in tragedy.  There are many everyday wounded healers among us, in our literature, history and traditions.   These strong ones are not of any particular religion or philosophy or belief system, they are in all of them.

When one falls down the rabbit hole of hard times there may not be many options but despair is not an automatic consequence.  The path may not be easy but it need not be hopeless.

Feed your head does not have to be about psychedelics but can be about the thoughts and attitudes we choose to put there.

Go ask Alice.

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Last week I attended the annual Unity retreat at the Kanuga conference center in North Carolina.  The photos above are a few that I took on my phone.

The theme for this year’s retreat was “The Wall, the Walk, the Wisdom, the Wonder: Transcending the Illusion of Limitation”.  Some of the activities included rock climbing and mountain walks.  I, however, stayed with the indoor sessions, listening to excellent speakers and then doing my own exploration, walking the labyrinth, and bodywork with a local massage therapist.  I went to meditations and created my own quiet journaling time.

The two keynote speakers were Mark Nepo http://www.marknepo.com/ and Rev. Sky St. John www.unityhawaii.org.

Mark Nepo presented concepts from his book, Facing the Lion, Being the Lion: Inner Courage and Where It Lives. He talked about three arts that are part of inner courage:

• The art of putting things together (seeing things in a new way rather than putting them into the old boxes that we have created).
• The art of facing what is ours to face.
• The art of feeling what is ours to feel.

It was impressive how the work of the two keynotes worked together.  Both emphasized acceptance of our experience, whatever it may be.  It is all “part of the tapestry” as Mark Nepo called it.  Another quote that I wrote down from him was “A spiritual warrior always has a crack in the heart, that is where the blessings come in.”

This theme of acceptance (and thereby transformation of) our experience was reflected in the words of a song that Sky St. John taught us:

Let it draw near
Let it come in
Let it pass through
Let it move on

In my opinion, the purpose of a spiritual retreat is to reexamine one’s life and rejuvenate, perhaps set goals, reevaluate and prioritize.  I feel like I did all of this as well as just had fun and connect with old friends.  One thing that I love about these kinds of retreats is the depth of the conversations that go on around me.  It seems that we all come together to focus on our higher selves and see the higher selves in others.

I have just returned from a spiritual retreat which I will write more about very soon. While I was in the beautiful North Carolina location, my new iphone did not get telephone service. The top of the screen read “No Connection”.

I worked hard to put aside the feeling of annoyance. I had internet access through the retreat center’s wi-fi network so I was not totally cut off. Also, I had chosen to leave the world for a few days in order to focus on spiritual matters. I really did not need to be connected.

Since my phone did not work in this location last year I was semi-prepared to be out of reach. Despite this, on the first day I did struggle to stay positive. As I got caught up in the retreat experience this feeling subsided.

Today, I was scheduled to participate in a two-part teleconference from New York. This morning’s session was totally unavailable to the teleconference participants. After listening to silence for awhile I had to find something else to place my attention on. The afternoon session was fine for the first hour-and-a-half then cut out for about half an hour. Again, no connection.

On the email list where some of us on the teleconference were reporting the outages, someone suggested that we take the attitude that we would know what we needed to know when we needed to know it.

Good advice.

It occurs to me that I have been exposed to a wealth of new ways of looking at things and encouraged to assimilate them into my life during the past week. No connection could on the physical level signal a technical problem but on a deeper metaphysical level signal that no new input is necessary.

I have traveled a great deal in Concord –Henry David Thoreau

This is one of my favorite quotes from Thoreau because it expresses that travel does not have to be through large outer spaces. Concord was a small town but Thoreau traveled great distances in this small space, gaining insight though paying close attention to every detail.

I like this quote because it reflects my own experience. As a person who does not drive I travel on foot (as Thoreau did) and observe the relatively small geographical space that I call my neighborhood. Much of my experience is interior sparked by exterior circumstances or generated through my own self talk and will.

Yes, I think we can create our own inner experience. This is done by what we choose to focus our attention on. We can shift our inner experience by choosing something that makes us feel good rather than something that generates a negative emotion.

This is what I have learned from the teaching of Abraham. (www.abraham-hicks.com). Abraham is now calling that feel-good place the vortex. It is where we learn to create our reality by reaching for things that feel good.

Today I was reminded of this as I was watching a TV show on the home network. A couple were looking for a house to buy and could not find one that was big enough. They were looking for something a little larger than 3000 square feet and around a half-million dollars. My critical mind kicked in and I almost started an inner tirade about how some people just could not be happy, and what did people need with that much, etc, etc. Then a calmer voice took over and I reminded myself that my judgments did nothing but diminish me. Then I was able to see and enjoy the beauty of the houses they were looking at. There was an inner shift that made me feel peaceful.

Sometimes it takes an effort of will to focus on something that feels better but the time required to make a shift is surprisingly short.

Today, was a quiet day spent attending to small things. Nevertheless, I feel that I traveled far on the interior journey.

I have not written on my blog for a while.
I do not know what to think of the world I am living in.
I want peace on earth.
I want to be able to live my life in peace.
I want to bond with others.
I want to fly:

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me:

Lately, I have been connecting with the energy of Abraham.

When I need inspiration I sometimes turn to Abraham, a group of non-physical beings channeled through Esther Hicks. (http://www.abraham-hicks.com). Abraham speaks in terms of vibration and teaches us that The Law of Attraction.

I’ve referred to the Law of Attraction in previous posts without definition of the term. Law of Attraction involves raising one’s vibration to match the thing that we desire. In other words focus on the thing that makes us feel good.

I have been in a discussion about why we call God father. I pointed out that often God is referred to as father/mother. I find it helpful to emphasize the feminine aspects of God such as nourishing and one who gives birth. I was listening to a favorite album of chants by Robert Gass and On Wings of Song. The song/chant “Ancient Mother” is a classic. I found several versions on youtube. This is my favorite. It beautifully illustrates various ways God has been imaged in feminine form across cultures and time.

I was reminded today of something that I heard when I was at Kripalu.

The seeker said to the guru: “What is the best practice?”

The guru said: “The practice that you do.”

I looked up the concept of dialectic on google but did not understand everything I read. I had to rely on the idea I had built up over the years. My idea of dialectic is also known as Marxist dialectic.

Thesis- antithesis – synthesis.

This makes since to me.

For example:
Thesis: The law of attraction.
Antithesis: ?

Recently I have had discussions with some folks about this idea of the law of attraction and whether it is right?

The idea is that there is a higher law which is seeking the kingdom of heaven. The law of attraction begins to break down in favor of the story of the manna, God provides.

The law of attraction may be the antithesis.

Thesis: God provides.

Antithesis: We create our own reality.

I am trying to logically draw a conclusion about something that can only be understood through experience. Try it; put your intent on one of these. “God provides”, is the mystical way. The law of attraction is the metaphysical way. Both work. as do countless others.

Synthesis: ??

Perhaps a prayer. Perhaps seeing an aspect of God in another person. Perhaps practicing gratitude and being my authentic self.

I apologize for quoting a comment in it’s entirely but I found this so beautiful and thought-provoking that I wanted to repeat it.

My sister Sarah wrote:

Vera, here is a thought about abundance that may or may not make sense to anyone else.

Are you familiar with the concept of ‘Thin Places’

Maybe there are thin places in our lives that are not necessarily physical spaces but are more related to specific activities. For example I cannot separate spirituality from working in my garden. I don’t think of the physical space of my garden as a thin place so much as the actual time spent in gardening activities.

While gardening I feel so much gratitude, gratitude for the developing fruits or the fragrance of herbs or the song of a bird. No matter what else may be going on in my life I feel thankful. In those feelings of gratitude I feel closer to God.

Anyway, if you’re still following me and this makes any kind of sense, I think we find our abundance when we find the thin places in our lives, those places where we naturally feel gratitude.

By abundance I do not mean financial abundance. (If you can turn that area of your life into a source of income that’s icing on the cake.) What I’m talking about is finding some aspect of our life that brings an abundance of gratitude.

Sarah,
You have great points and I agree with you completely. When I first read this I did not remember what a thin place was. I looked it up on google and learned that it was a sacred space where the veils between the sacred and everyday life become thin. The concept is understood in many traditions. We also understood that a thin place may not be a physical place.

I do not have a physical place that I relate to as a thin place, though my living room couch with a certain inspirational magazine open would be the closest.

Like my sister, for me my couch is not particularly a thin space but the time spent there in inspirational reading and meditation is.

I find a thin place in my breath. I am a person who walks and hums and I find a thin place there. I know how to calm myself with my breath, to meditate, to listen.

Sometimes, I do not go to this place on a regular basis but it is always there for me when I choose it.

I continue to divide myself into parts. There is the part of me that understands thin space but that joyfully shares that space with other parts that are not so thin.

I so appreciate my sister relating the idea of thin spaces to gratitude and to abundance. She expresses the idea that the thin place is preferable to material possessions.

To take an idea from my sister, Jesus taught us not to store up material goods but to seek the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom is a thin place.

I wrote about Mercury retrograde and the need for patience. Patience is in order because the timing is not right to make certain kinds of moves and changes in one’s lives. To be clear, this is an astrological concept, not a scientific one.

I have been exploring a big move; one that will require a great deal of patience and planning.

I am looking at moving to another state. I will be retiring in about 21 months. I have started to look at what this will mean. I want to continue to work, possibly as a web designer. But, I will experience life-altering changes in location and lifestyle.

All of this during the turmoil that we call the current economic crisis.

I have been tuning out the news stories about how bad things are right now. For one thing every person’s situation is different. For another, I believe that I can live conservatively and support myself in my change.

But, how do we bring the economy back? I am not sure this is the right question. I think the right question may be “How do I live abundantly now?” I am not sure that the economy that we are mourning the demise of really served me on a personal level.

I do not know what the US economy will become but I am convinced that my source of abundance is not money; it is experience.

In my career I have enjoyed the experience of writing computer programs and solving problems.

Perhaps it is time for me to gain experience growing vegetables and enjoying sunshine.

I began with the idea of patience and mercury retrograde. Mercury will go direct on February 1 so the snafu influence should abate for a while. The need for patience will last much longer. I may not get my dream of a retirement home overnight; patience is intertwined with dreaming the dream.

My friend Marianne went to Washington for the inaugural. Friday we finally had a chance to chat about her experience. Her glowing descriptions matched my impressions from watching MSNBC for the two days leading up to the day and then the day itself. Everyone was so happy she told me. People were talking to each other and bonding with strangers.

“Why can’t it be like that all the time?” I wanted to know.

It seems like we may be afraid to acknowledge this national moment of hope too freely because there is the suspicion that soon the euphoria will evaporate and we will be left to face another crisis. Why are we so tuned to crisis? These moments when people are drawn together in a single purpose don’t come around very often and when they do they usually result from tragedy. The inauguration was a moment of hope and I believe that there are millions of people who carry that hope in their heart. The experience was real. We can begin to recreate ourselves as a nation.

I would like to ask a question. Where do we stand in relation to having a department of Peace? Do you laugh that I ask this question?

I did a Google search and happily found that I am not the only one to ask this question: http://www.thepeacealliance.org/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/

“Appoint a Secretary of Peace in a Department of Peace” was one of the nation’s top 10 “Ideas for Change” presented to the Obama Administration by Change.org last Friday during an event at the National Press Club. See the press release at: http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/648/1/

Does this bring back funny memories of my hero Dennis K
ave suggested that he could be the first Secretary of the Department of Peace.

When the economy is bad does anyone even focus on ideas of war and peace? I heard a statistic this morning that said that a very large percentage of Americans did not think that the effort to close Gitmo was appropriate at this time given the state of the economy. I cannot imagine that the people interviewed were the same people that had experienced the jubilation of the inaugural

Maybe when hope is high it’s easier to focus on more than one positive initiative.

Are we too afraid to ask the question?

I think that we should keep the hope of a Dept of Peace alive. Why should short term goals get in the way of long term goals?

I think many of us agree that we want real change. To me a Dept of Peace would be a signal that it was really happening.